A business is any
organisation that
makes goods or
provides services
Many types of business exist in the
UK ranging from small firms owned
and run by one elf employed
person to large companies which
employ thousands of staff the world
over
A business start up is a new firm
operating in a market for the first
time
The majority of
businesses are very
small and operate in the
service sector
Goods are physical products
Services are non-physical items
Customer needs are the wants and
desires of buyers
A business buys the products they
need form suppliers and sell to
customers
An individual person who
uses the product is called the
consumer
Business sell their product to
customers in markets; any place
where buyers and sellers meet
to trade products
Businesses are likely to be in competition
with other firms offering similar products
To create goods and services,
businesses need to buy or hire
inputs such as raw materials,
equipment, buildings and staff
These inputs are turned
into outputs called products
A business adds value
when the selling price of
an item produced is higher
than the cost of all the
resources used to make it
Sectors; the three types of
industry in which firms
operate
Primary: the
acquiring of raw
materials such as
fish from fishing,
milk from farming,
coal from mining etc.
Secondary:
manufacturing and
assembly
(converting raw
materials into
products)
Tertiary: commercial
services supporting the
production and
distribution process, e.g.
insurance, transport,
advertising etc.
The three sectors are very
much interdependent as firms
rely on other businesses in
different sectors
The setting up of
a business is
called enterprise
An individual who
sets up a
business is called
an entrepreneur
and does it for the
following motives
Making a profit
The satisfaction of
setting up a successful
business and being
independent
Making a difference
New businesses start out
with few customers and are
likely to face competition
To be successful, new
businesses need to create a
competitive advantage over its
rivals by offering a product that
customers prefer to a rival's
product
Setting up a business involves
risks and rewards; the reward
being profit
If losses or not enough
profit is made an owner
may decide to close the
business
Many businesses have
limited resource and find
research costly
Lack of planning and
reliance on gut instinct
often leads to business
failure
However, a business plan is
a report by a new or existing
business that contains all of
its research findings and why
the firm hopes to succeed
Contents of the
business plan may
include the results of
market research and
competitor analysis
By doing this, owners are forced to
think about their aims, competition
and financial needs helping to
reduce risk and reassuring
stakeholders, such as banks
Competitive and changing
markets
Attracting customers
requires making products
seem superior to that of
their rivals
However rivals are likely to be at work
on creating new products or
improving operations to reduce costs
and drive down prices
Businesses are constantly needing to adapt their
products in accordance to ever changing trends
and customer needs; success today is no guarantee
of future profits
A competitive
market will have
many businesses
trying to win the
same customers
A monopoly is either the
only supplier in the market
or one with more than 25%
of the market